The Grand Theatre’s popular play reading group The Play’s the Thing will enjoy the first part of Alan Ayckbourn’s modern morality tale Man of the Moment at the Lawrence House Studio on Saturday 5th September at 1.30pm.
This comes before Alan Ayckbourn’s hilarious social comedy Absurd Person Singular at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre from Monday 12th October to Saturday 17th October in celebration of the renowned playwright’s 50th year in theatre with a star-studded cast including Robert Duncan (Drop The Dead Donkey), Elizabeth Carling (Casualty), Lisa Kay (Heartbeat), Deborah Grant (Not Going Out), Matthew Cottle (Game On) and Stephen Beckett (Coronation Street). Not to be missed...
The Play’s the Thing takes place on the first Saturday of each month at the Grand and is intended for adults who may have an interest in reading plays, either appearing at Blackpool’s beautiful Grand, or plays that have a theme in keeping with the Grand’s eclectic programme of performances.
On Saturday 5th September the Grand’s playreading group will begin with Alan Ayckbourn’s savagely funny tale of media manipulation Man of the Moment. Vic Parks is the man of the moment; a celebrity criminal who having spent nine years in jail for a botched bank robbery, has written his autobiography and is now a bona fide television celebrity. Now living in a villa, complete with swimming pool, in Spain, he has agreed to appear on the TV show Their Paths Crossed. The host Jill Rillington intends to bring together, 17 years on, Vic with Douglas Beechey – the unassuming clerk who foiled the robbery.
Jill hopes to exploit the irony that although Douglas had a brief 15 minutes of fame and married his true love – incidentally maimed during the raid – the man who has found true success and celebrity is the villain. Expecting jealousy, envy and bitterness from Douglas, Jill instead finds a profoundly accepting man who has no regrets about his life and is actually a fan of Vic’s TV show. His only wish being that his moment of fame had lasted a little longer...
Man of the Moment premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough in August 1988 and in the West End in February 1990. The Play’s The Thing will continue with the second part of Man of the Moment on Saturday 3rd October.
The play reading group is led by Jennifer Smethurst who also runs the Act One Drama Studio that has taken many young people and adults through their LAMDA awards for many years. Jennifer is a qualified drama instructor with many years experience in working in the performing arts.
Bill Kenwright’s critically acclaimed production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Absurd Person Singular comes to Blackpool’s Grand Theatre from Monday 12th October to Saturday 17th October in celebration of Ayckbourn’s 50th year on the stage.
It's party time at the Hopcroft’s and the only present they want is to succeed in scaling the social ladder. Havoc ensues at the drinks party they hold to impress their high-powered friends - but that's nothing compared to what happens over the next two years when the friends return their hospitality!
Featuring an all star cast including Lisa Kay, best known in her current lead role as Nurse Carol Cassidy in ITV1's Heartbeat, Elizabeth Carling, well known for her lead performances in Casualty, Goodnight Sweetheart and Barbara, Matthew Cottle, who starred alongside Samantha Janus in the hilarious BBC comedy Game On, Stephen Beckett, renowned for his long running roles in Coronation Street and The Bill, Deborah Grant, whose numerous starring roles include Bouquet of Barbed Wire, Bergerac and most recently, the BBC’s hit series Not Going Out and Robert Duncan, best known as Gus from the Channel Four cult comedy hit Drop the Dead Donkey. -- www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk
Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.
